Merry Christmas to all!

We were nothing if not a family of traditions around Christmas.  Christmas Eve always meant a traditional Christmas Eve dinner - basically a repeat of Thanksgiving - turkey, dressing, squash casserole, pumpkin and mince meat pies.  Christmas morning we all got up way too early.  The Beatles and I had to wait with Mother while Daddy went in to turn on the Christmas tree lights.  He would stroll back and say "I don't think Santa came here last night" or something similar, and we would all rush past him with the knowledge that he was pulling our leg.

After we had oohed and ahhed over everything Santa brought and tried out whatever needed trying out, we got down to the business of opening the gifts under the tree.  The tradition was that everything got handed out and then we went around the room and opened one gift at a time so that everyone could remark upon them.  When we got older and my mother finally let go of the idea that we didn't believe in Santa Claus anymore - I think I might have been thirty then! - Daddy wrapped all the Santa gifts.  He also numbered them and kept a list of who got what.  So we would hand out the gifts according to his number scheme and proceed with the opening ceremonies.

After the gift opening, we retired to the kitchen for breakfast, which was always Daddy making scrambled eggs, Lil Sizzlers sausage links, and Moravian sugar cake.  You could depend on these traditions and, with some minor modifications, they have endured to this day.

This year marks the eighth year since Mother died - in fact, today is the day eight years ago when we buried her, while all around us people were celebrating and joyous.  It's also the twenty-second year we've had Christmas without Daddy.  I can only speak for myself, but Christmas is bittersweet every year.  Although I love being with my brothers and their families, I'm always reminded of who we are missing.

I'm sure that over the next two days, the Beatles and I will share stories about Christmases past.  We'll laugh about the Charlie Brown Christmas trees through the years.  We'll reminisce about the Clutch Cargo video and the broken present video that sent someone on a quest to find their gift. (Mine was the broken present video - I remember getting ready to lay my gifts under the tree and noticing a badly damaged gift and thinking "oh, no, Matrix must have gotten into this", and then seeing my name on the gift!  Much fun!)  There were the really old days when we used to go to Aunt Helen's at Christmas for the shrimp tray and she never disappointed on that count.  And the white Christmases we had in New Jersey.  Maggie eating the chocolate ornaments off the bottom of the tree.  Winnie stealing all the dog bones one year and Sam and Matrix hovering over her jealously.  The year we got Mother and Daddy a hand carved grandfather clock.  George dressing up as Santa and waggling his finger at children in cars on 285 as he was headed to John's friend's house.

This year we're all back together again.  I'll fondly remember Christmas in France as a year when some of the magic was back in Christmas for me.  What an experience.  I'll also remember the ache in my heart last year for my sister-in-law Noel, who lost her mother just a couple days before the anniversary of when my own mother died.  I'm going to miss Patsy's "crack" candy now that she's moved away.  But the important thing is that we will all be together this year.

I think Christmas must have been Mother's favorite holiday.  She loved the whole Santa Claus thing.  I can remember when she still made Christmas goodies.  Cookies of all types - layer cookies, cocoons, fruitcake cookies, sugar cookies - and treats like sausage balls and candied orange and grapefruit rinds.  She eventually quit doing that, but it was fun to do that together.  She loved bringing out the Christmas china and putting out all her Christmas decorations.  It always made me crazy how she continued to put our old (horrible) school ornaments on the tree every year. 

So in honor of Mother and Daddy, here are some Christmas memories.  (I thank my friend and fellow blogger, Debi Austen, for the idea to do this!)

Christmas at Rockefeller Center

Christmas tree from my first Christmas

Christmas in Charlotte - Jimmy, Jay and me with Granddaddy

Jimmy, Jay and me at Christmas

Santa and me

Boyce and Allen with their Christmas gifts from Aunt Marian 2010

Christmas in Colmar, France  2008

Christmas in France

My Christmas bike

And a postcard from Algiers

And a postcard from Algiers to Mocha and Granddaddy and Amelia Ann:  We finally made it into Algiers about three hours late because of bad weather and terrific headwinds, but we have a good pilot.  Evidently there isn't much to see here.  At least we didn't see too much.  But we did go through the Casbah.  It's a dirty, filthy section where people exist.  This picture looks good compared to what it actually looks like.

She also wrote at the top of the postcard, as though trying to identify what was in the picture:  These are Moslem women, and they are everywhere.  Hmm.  You're in Algeria, a Muslim country.  What a shocker.  LOL

North Africa to Portugal

December 30, 1953 – later

We finally landed in Algiers about three hours late because of terrific headwinds and bad weather.  It has rained all afternoon except for about an hour.

Algiers, Algeria

There really isn’t much to see here.  At least we didn’t see too much.  I really think this is a gas stop, and we spent the night here because two nights flying would be right much.

We are staying at the St. George Hotel (still there).  It is old and ornate but nice – private bath.  This is where Ike used to meet with Wilson (Eng.) and plan for the Mediterranean theater.

We did go on a sightseeing tour.  We went to the Botanical Gardens first.  On the way we saw one of the Governor’s Palaces where Gen. Clark used to stay.  In 1942 a French Admiral was assassinated at the front gate.  We also passed a Woolworth’s store.

         The Botanical Gardens are 85 acres and were built 2 years after the French occupation.  They looked like they might be right pretty in the right kind of weather.  It rained on us there.  Everyone was griping – mainly because we hadn’t been to bed.  But I also think that it is a good thing that this tour is just about over because I think that all are about run down.  We have really been pushing it.

 

Botanical Gardens in Algiers

          Then we went to the Casbah.  On the way we passed the huts that the nomads lived in.  First we came to the flea market – a bunch of dirty people selling things.  Then we went into an Arabian house.  The roof is flat and open.  This is reserved for the women so they can take their veils off.  There are no windows, only peep holes, so they can look out, but no one can look in.

Slums of Algiers

Casbah in Algiers

Then we went into St. Phillip’s Cathedral which used to be a mosque.

Then we went down into the Casbah.  That is a dirty, filthy section where people live.  They also sell some things in the streets but they don’t beg you to buy.  It is a series of very narrow streets that are steps.  The children run along and beg for money, hit you, spit on you, or trip you.  They are all filthy.  This place is closed at night because it is so dangerous.  We went into a graveyard somewhere in there.  [I can't even fathom why they would have gone into a graveyard, especially in a place like this.  I'm certain Mother bitched about that.]

Native Women in the Casbah

On the way back we stopped at a couple of stores.

 

Leaving Algiers.  I'm pretty sure this was her favorite part of this stop.

December 31, 1953

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve and here we are in Lisbon drinking a bottle of Port wine – the National Wine of Portugal.  [Kind of like sherry is the national wine of Spain!]

We got in here about two this afternoon after flying over the blue Mediterranean.  It is beautiful and the weather is wonderful.  It is just like spring again and everything is green.

 

Coming into Lisbon

We are staying at the Florida Hotel (still there).

This afternoon some of us went shopping but I think we must have gotten on the wrong street because all we saw was junky stores.  We did stop somewhere for coffee.  Then we took the streetcar home.  That was an experience.

You know my feet nearly froze on the plane per usual.

January 2, 1953

Lisbon was grand – it is a beautiful city and the sun was out the whole time, but it was windy so it was a little chilly.  Yesterday we went on an all day sightseeing trip.

        Portugal gained her independence from Spain in 1140.  We rode by Black Horse Square (actually known as Commerce Square or the Palace Square) on the River Tagus.  This is where every one checks in to Lisbon.  Then we went down to the fish docks which were really bustling.  Everyone carries their things on their heads, especially the fish wives.  Then we passed the President’s Palace and stopped at the Cathedral of St. Geronimo (Jeronimos Monastery) which was built in 1500 over the site of a little chapel where Vasco de Gama prayed before he sailed to India.  This church commemorates all explorations.  All of the decorations are of seafaring things.  It is a beautiful church.  In fact I do believe it is the prettiest one I have been in over here.

 

Fish Wharves in Lisbon

Then we went to a tower that is where Vasco de Gama’s armada sailed from and where he used to go.  It is very pretty.

 

Tower where Vasco de Gama sailed from

Then we drove through an area which he called social housing – housing project.  There is an awful lot of building going on in Lisbon.  All of the new buildings are modern and are all different colors.  It certainly is colorful.  As our guide said, every one wants to keep the old part of Lisbon, but they want to live in the new part.  As I have said, we were very impressed with Lisbon.  The people here looked and acted like humans and treated us like humans.

 

Lisbon

Then we went to the National Stadium which was built in 1940.  It is beautiful and the turf was out of this world.

We drove up the coast to Estoril, which is the Portuguese Riviera.  It was a beautiful drive.  We got out here for a few minutes and went down on the beach.

Estoril, Portugal

         Then we drove on to Cascais, which is older than Estoril.  This is where all of the ex-kings and titled people live.  From there we went on to Sintra.  On the way we passed Cape Roca, which is the nearest tip to America in Europe.  We ate lunch in Sintra at the Hotel Nunes.  You know they feed you tremendous meals here – about 5 courses – from soup to nuts literally.  I have never seen such meals.

Cascais

          From there we went up to Pina Castle. It was built in 1500 by Emmanuel I for a monastery. He also built St. Geronimo’s. In 1840 it was turned into the king’s summer residence, but it hasn’t been used as such for several years. It certainly was ornate.

Castle in Sintra, Portugal

      

         When we got back we drove around Lisbon.  Coming into Lisbon we had a beautiful view of the whole city.  We passed a tremendous bridge that was built in 1700.  Then we went to Park Edward VII to the rock garden which was very pretty.

St. Geronimo’s Cathedral in Lisbon

We also passed the place where they held the NATO Conference.

Last night several of us went to the movie – “Lili” (with Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer, Jean-Pierre Aumont and Zsa Zsa Gabor).  We went at 9:30 and didn’t get out until 12:30.  At first they had three cartoons.  In between each one there was a short.  Then there was some advertising.  Then an intermission; then the first part of the movie; then another intermission; and then the last half.  The theater was fabulous – bar and everything.  [Party at the movie theater!]  It was a very good movie too.

Still thinkin' bout that Whiskey Soda

December 30, 1953

We have just left the shores of Tripoli and a gorgeous sunrise.  We had to stop here and in Bergase to refuel on our way from Cairo to Algiers.  We left Cairo about 2100 and will be in Algiers about 1100.

I was sort of disappointed in Cairo after Luxor.  Luxor was so primitive and picturesque and Cairo is a big city – back to civilization again.

We got into Cairo around noon Monday.  After lunch we went sightseeing.  There were loads of soldiers everywhere.  In fact there were loads of people everywhere.  One thing we did see that we hadn’t seen before was the children riding astride one of their mother’s shoulders.  We are still seeing Westinghouse, Esso and Shell signs everywhere.

Woman carrying a child on her shoulders in Cairo - although it's hard to see!

On our way to the Mosque we passed one of the palaces where Shepherd’s hotel used to be, Opera House Square – the railway station which is tremendous, etc.  The Mosque was built by Sultan Hassan and is 650 years old.  The stones were taken from the pyramids.  He had the builder’s hands cut off when he had finished so he couldn’t duplicate it.  We had to put the slippers on again and they were the biggest yet.  They looked like Donald Duck shoes.

Mother at the Mosque of Omah in those Donald Duck slippers

Across the street is the Citadel which used to be the capital of Cairo.  It was built in 1748 A.D.  During the last reign of the last family it was a fortress.  The stones for this were also taken from the pyramids.  There was a mosque here too, and it was all lighted for us.  Mohamed Alli built this mosque.

The Citadel

Lights at the mosque at the Citadel

On the way to the bazaars we drove through the tombs of the Caliphs – rulers of Egypt.  It is still used as a cemetery.  All of the tombs are built on top of the ground right on the street.  You know the Moslems don’t care how they live during this lifetime.  It’s how they live after death that counts.

That night we went for a short sail on the Nile and then to an Egyptian night club – Shahrazad – where we saw the “belly dancers”.  They were really something.  We also had to shake hands with Samian’s sister.  Samian is the belly dancer that married Shepherd King.  Right now she is in Luxor busy with Robert Taylor – making the movie “Valley of Kings” that is.  [Ha ha!  Mother made a funny.]

Then yesterday morning we started out bright and early.  We went to the Egyptian museum where they have all of the treasures taken from the different tombs that we saw in Luxor.  To me it is almost unbelievable that all of those things were made so long ago and are still here.  In the jewel room there are things from the first dynasty – 4000 B.C. – up to the time of the Romans from all over Egypt.  As I said it is almost unbelievable.

After we left the museum, we went up to the Mena House.  From here we rode the camels to the pyramids.  My camel’s name was Whiskey Soda, and my driver was very nice.   He looked after me and didn’t beg for tips.  That was the roughest ride I have ever had.  Besides I think all of the camels must have had a big dose of laxative before we left.  We got off at the Sphinx.  When the camel knelt down, I almost fell off.  Right beside the Sphinx is the Temple of the Sphinx, which was built with huge pieces of granite and alabaster.  This was a burial ground too.  We went inside and as the saying goes, it was “dark as Egypt”.  This was built in 3800 B.C.

The head of Whiskey Soda, Mother's camel

Mother on her camel

The Sphinx is tremendous.  It was cut out of natural rock in 2800 B.C.  It has the head of a woman which denotes beauty, the face of a man for intelligence, and the body of a lion for strength.  It has been covered by sand twice.

The Sphinx

Then we rode the camels again to the first pyramid which is the largest – King Cheop’s pyramid.  It was built in 3733 B.C.  There are 9 pyramids altogether, and they are all tombs.

Cheop’s pyramid

We climbed up King Cheop’s pyramid.  Very narrow passage wall and we had to bend over all the way up.  We climbed about half way up which is about 150 feet to the king’s chamber.  Only the King and Queen were buried in the pyramids.  Cheop’s had the workmen killed every 6 months so they wouldn’t give away the secret.

The tour group in front of the Cheops Pyramid

We also went to the bazaars which are the largest in the Middle East.  It was just like a rat race.  I have never seen as many people and every one was trying to sell you something.

We stayed at the Heliopolis Palace which is tremendous (by the 60’s the hotel was abandoned; however in the 80’s it was renovated and became the headquarters of the Hosni Mubarak administration).  It has a dome too and is right lush.

Hotel Heliopolis

Oh yes!  We ate lunch at the Mena House (still there)after the camel ride.  They had a Christmas tree suspended from the ceiling.

Mena House

I looked all over Cairo for men holding hands like Mac said they did.  I finally saw two of the guards in the museum holding hands.  [I can picture Mother with her mouth wide open looking at them too!]

         When I took my last trip to Europe, we took a day trip to Tangier in Morocco.  One of the things I was excited about was the camels.  In my mind, I had this picture of Paul and me riding camels, just like Mother had, even though it would have been in a different North African country.  During our tour, we stopped along the beach outside Tangier where there were camels for rent.  You actually would see little groups of camels and their owners all along the beach, so this is obviously one of those "must do" tourist attractions.  All the camels were sitting on the beach with their legs tucked up underneath them.  This made it easy to get on the camel before it stood up and you went on your merry little way.

          So as we considered doing this, I had some flashbacks to a couple of horse outings.  One was when I was in college and I went with some friends one night to a stable outside of Athens.  We all got horses and some "cowboys" took us out for a moonlight ride.  In my mind, I could see myself riding on my horse in that picture from Gregg Allman's album "Laid Back".  He's riding with his then wife and it just always struck me as a romantic picture.  In any case, I was riding alone and my horse was quite the pokey ride, unfortunately.  What I remember most was poor Stan Dorsey's horse trying to ditch him and running off.  I'm sure Stan was scared to death, but it still makes me laugh to remember it.  I was the last person back to the stable since my horse could not be made to hurry up.

           The last time I tried riding a horse was with my ex-husband.  We were in the mountains in NC and had decided riding would be a fun afternoon outing.  For me, it turned out to be a nightmare.  Not only did I have a frisky horse, but I had visions of that horse riding off the side of a mountain with me on it (yes, we were riding on mountain trails).  As I recall, the guide had to take hold of the horse and help me down the trail.  I was panicking and near tears.  Not my finest moment.

           So thinking about that made me rethink the idea of emulating my mother on a camel.  But Paul and Allen rode like Lawrence of Arabia!

Paul and Allen on camels

          And looking at camels reminds me of an old family story.  Referred to in the Moore family lore as "The Night the Moose Got In".  John, Paul and George were on a trip to Isle Royale, off the coast of Michigan in Lake Superior.  And here's the tale, as Paul recounted it:

We arrived at the camp site between Lake Siskiwit and 'the Pond' a little later than we wanted. As darkness approached we searched for a suitable camp site. I found a beautiful opening in the woods to pitch the tents. We made camp and prepared a stack of wood in the classic chimney style but decided not to light the fire since we were near a couple of other camps. We cooked the fish we caught that day for dinner, and commenced drinking apple cider and rum (the usual evening activity) with a single mini-lantern hanging from a rope.

Once it was pitch dark, I heard a soft grunt in the woods. The rest of the crew quickly dismissed this as my imagination. After another hot toddy, we all heard the grunting...and the woods began snapping and thrashing just behind the tents. I had a flashback to finding the tent site and now I knew why the opening was so nicely manicured - we had camped in the middle of a moose highway! We shined our flashlights but were unable to see anything (moose are black!). After the moose ignored our demands to go away, we implemented Plan B (find a tree to hide behind). I should mention that we camped on a bluff and the moose had us pinned against the drop off. Later, John admitted that he had contemplated jumping off the bluff into the Pond.

The following few minutes are a bit hazy and each of us remembers them clearly but quite distinctly. I remembered the Forest Ranger telling us to hide behind a tree and let the moose charge past then work your way from tree to tree until you're out of his way. You see, moose cannot see very well so they sniff you. If you don't smell like one of their harem, they assume you are another bull after their cows - and charge you trying to stomp you into the ground.

I quickly found a suitable tree, but then John turned around and said "find your own tree". I turned around and delivered the message to George. It turns out we had all three chosen the same tree to hide behind. I noticed George was still being very careful not to spill his drink while madly dashing about in the dark. I decided not to offer advice and instead spend my time trying to find safety. I wound up behind a beautiful triple-trunk tree that I could shinny up if necessary.

Eventually the moose quit smashing the woods near us and ran off down the hill knocking over the tent in the next site. He jumped in the canal and swam across then continued demonstrating his displeasure at our camping in his bedroom.

After the moose swam across the pond...we returned to the candle lantern and just as we got comfortable again the candle went out...at the exact same moment a wolf howled from across the lake!

We tried to sleep but I kept thinking about how we were laying down in his spot, and how much George's snoring sounded like a moose. I dreamed of climbing the triple-trunk tree several times.

The next morning it looked like someone had driven a truck through the woods. Trees were snapped off about 3 feet off the ground and the underbrush behind our tents was stomped flat. I found my triple-trunk tree as we relived the evening, and saw that it would have been disaster for me to have tried to climb the dead tree. The tops had already broken off and I might have gotten one good shinny before the dead triple-trunk tree deposited me at the feet of the moose.

Moose are like camels, right?  LOL

And now we're in Luxor - being waited on hand and foot!

December 28, 1953

Luxor was wonderful.  The weather was gorgeous.  Sometimes it got pretty hot especially this morning.  We sat in the sun at the airport for three hours and sweltered.  We couldn’t take off because Cairo was fogged in.  But the sun felt grand.

        Our hotel was really luxurious.  We had beds with testers and what I suppose was mosquito netting.  The ceilings were very high.  The bathrooms were tremendous.  There was a beautiful garden outside our room.

Gardens behind the hotel in Luxor

The chambermaids are men and they come running every time you breathe twice.  There are always at least two outside your door.  You don’t have to do a thing for yourself.  They even had two little boys pushing the revolving doors around.  All we had to do was walk through.  Not only that but there was a little boy at the front door to brush off your shoes when you came in.  We were really living!

Yesterday morning we started out bright and early.  First we crossed the Nile in boats.  They were big with sails, but we did use the sails.  Two boys rowed us across.  Coming back we had so many people that they couldn’t get to the oars, so they poled us back.  Sure was glad that I didn’t have that job.

Boats across the Nile

We got on a bus and drove to the Valley of the Kings or the Dead City of Thebes.  On the way a carload of soldiers stopped us and walked all around the bus – don’t know why.  Oh yes we had a guard with us the whole time here too.

Soldiers at the tombs at the Valley of the Kings

We saw them making up the people on the set for the “Valley of Kings”.

Valley of the Kings

All of the Egyptian kings are buried here because they thought this was the end of the world.  This was called the Dead City of Thebes.  On the other side of the Nile was the other part of Thebes – the city of the living.  Here they built the temples to the Gods.  Thebes was the capital of Egypt from 600-900 B.C.

In the Valley of the Kings 62 tombs have been uncovered.  We went into four.  The longer a king reigned the larger his tomb was.

First we went into the Tomb of Rameses VI, dated 1100 B.C.  This was one of the largest and the best but one of the latest.  Then we went into the Tomb of Tutukaman or King Tut – 1420 B.C.  Thieves hadn’t gotten to this one because it was under the Tomb of Rameses VI.  It is one of the 2 found intact – was full of treasures when opened.  There is no carving on the wall because he died young – about 18.  The mummy is still in the tomb because they were afraid it would fall to pieces if they moved it.  It was inside 2 cases that were inside 3 more.

Ann and I tried to go out here to see the movie set while we were waiting on the others.  They slammed the gates and started speaking Egyptian to us.  We didn’t get out.

        Next we went to the Tomb of Siti I.  It is dated 1380 B.C.  It is the largest and the best – 350’ long and 180’ deep.  The carving is cut right out of the rock.  It’s amazing.  Siti built a trap or shaft to fool the thieves but he forgot 2 things.  He forgot to put a mummy in the shaft and he had the whole plan of the tomb on the wall as you come in.

Then we saw tomb of King D’Amenoplis III – other tomb intact – beautiful.  He had a shaft too, but he put mummies here and had no plan on the wall.  In the hieroglyphics (pictures) on the walls the people always have two left hands because both thumbs must show when offering up a sacrifice.

I just don’t see how they made the tombs.  They are all carved out of rocks and all of the hieroglyphics are too.  It’s amazing.

Then we went to the Temple of Del Abahare or Queen Hatsheput.  She was the only Queen of Egypt.  Born to rule as a king so she dressed like one and the priest legalized the rule.  In 400 A.D. this was a Christian monastery.  Now ruins.  Near here is the place where the mummies were put when removed from the tombs.

Temple of Queen Hatsheput

One of the guards at the Temple of Queen Hatsheput trying to pick up Mother

On the way back we saw two tremendous statues out in a field – 65 ft. high – 1490 B.C.  This was the gateway to the City of the Dead.

Gateway to the Dead City of Thebes

After lunch at the hotel we went to the Temple of Karnak.  We went in ancient carriages.  We were the first but the last to arrive.  Our driver pulled the old squeeze play for awhile with some others who tried to pass us, but we lost out.  As we drove along every one waved and yelled at us and laughed.  Temple of Karnak or house of Aman – God of Sun and Thebes.  It was tremendous – covers 600 acres.  It is the largest temple but is in ruins now.  Queen Hatsheput’s half brother destroyed it because he didn’t like her – King Tut III.  She married the other half brother.

Avenue of Sphinxes at the Temple of Karnak

Temple of King Tut

They started excavating here 85 years ago.  In front is the Avenue of Sphinxes with the king in front.  There is no uniform plan to the temple because so many kings built it.

Temple of Karnak

         They made mud walls to roll the stones up for the main walk.  One is still left because the king died before he finished it.

There is an obelisk here that the Queen brought up the Nile.  It is the house of the Gods and the symbol of life.

The Egyptians believe that the sunrise is the symbol of birth, the sun the journey of life, and the sunset death.

Also at the temple is the Sacred Pool where all of the mummies were washed before being taken to the tombs.  Beside it is a scarab – the symbol of resurrection.  The scarab is a beetle which rolls dung in its hands in the sun.  Its eggs are inside and the sun gives it life.

Then there is the Ptolemey Gateway which the Arc de Triomphe looks like.

Luxor was grand and now we are headed for Cairo.

Sunset on the Nile in Luxor